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Did you finance your bike?

2010 Harley/Big Dog/Orange County Chopper. $60,000 invested. Must sell, $8000 or best offer. See the posts above. Motorcycles are not investments.

No matter how much you have yourself convinced, most peoples motorcycles are toys. I know mine are. That being said, I used the Yamaha financing to buy my YZ450F, and right before the 2 years low interest financing was up, I paid it off, my payment was going from $106/month, to about $300. And the Ducati, bought used, went through my credit union (SESLOC, Service Employees of San Luis Obispo County), at 6%, I believe, and then a year or so later, they called and said their interest rate went down, would I like to lower my payment!!! Now that is what I call service. They have never said no, we've got an SUV and my Chevy truck financed through them also. The truck is almost paid off, what should I buy now? Decisions, decisions.
 
So many different opinions here. To finance or not?...

It's pretty simple for me. I have the $$ to pay cash for the bike. I can get a 4% 36 month loan for part of the cost of the bike (7K). In those 3 years, I will pay $440 in interest, or $146 per year.

That $146 per year extra will leave me with $7K in cash that I can use if needed. Or invest in something that can be profitable, or pay it towards my mortgage, or...? That available cash is important to me "just in case."

There is no right or wrong here. Both options have their pros and cons.


Meh, for $440 it isn't really even spending this much time thinking about. It is a $440 bill you have to pay and I'd personally rather not but whatever, I also don't buy $4 latte's because I think it's stupid. They make some people happy.

And a latte every day is more than is at issue for the loan.

Also, paying it off improves your credit which can save you more money in the future.
 
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Meh, for $440 it isn't really even spending this much time thinking about. It is a $440 bill you have to pay and I'd personally rather not but whatever, I also don't buy $4 latte's because I think it's stupid. They make some people happy.

And a latte every day is more than is at issue for the loan.

Also, paying it off improves your credit which can save you more money in the future.

Exactly. All the "financing is bad" comments seem ignorant to me without knowing the details. This isn't even the reason I started this thread to begin with.

For $.40 per day extra, I'll gladly use someone else's money to pay for my hobbies.
 
I financed both my bikes brand new. If I had to go back, I would not do it again, like most would agree with.

Young mistake or maybe just experience.

Either way, I am about to knock out one of them next month and the other has been slashed in half, using my tax return. I also already killed some other debt and paid off the remaining balance on my insurance premium term.

I am a lot happier now...
 
So many different opinions here. To finance or not?...

It's pretty simple for me. I have the $$ to pay cash for the bike. I can get a 4% 36 month loan for part of the cost of the bike (7K). In those 3 years, I will pay $440 in interest, or $146 per year.

That $146 per year extra will leave me with $7K in cash that I can use if needed. Or invest in something that can be profitable, or pay it towards my mortgage, or...? That available cash is important to me "just in case."

There is no right or wrong here. Both options have their pros and cons.

Alternatively, you can save that $200+ bucks a month and do other things with it.

I don't think financing is a big deal if you're talking under 10k for most folks making good money.

The problem I see are the kids making $10/hr getting caught up in the $99/month R1 special, then defaulting on the loan, and ultimately bumping up interest rates for everyone.
 
Agree about avoiding Golden Gate... my bro got screwed there on his CBR. They kept trying to confuse him with the monthly payments & down amount, hoping he wouldn't see that they were asking full price + bogus "fees". He bought (it took hours) and after all the hassle didn't even get a good deal, but if he had shopped around could have saved over a grand by going to Tracy or Hollister Honda. I wish I was there to help him when he bought. They didn't even offer him a discount on his gear, so he bought his swag at Cycle Gear, for far less money, too. Last bike he will buy from that dealer he says...
 
:thumbup I'm thinking the same way. I typically don't like to borrow money, but at this point I would rather spend someone elses $$ and keep mine in the bank.

Makes no sense unless it's the only money you have (in which case I wouldn't be buying a new bike). Paying 6.5-8.5% in interest on a bike so you can keep your cash in the bank earning around 1-2% is not smart.
 
got a desmo with a 69.99% apr


i think its worth it
 
Makes no sense unless it's the only money you have (in which case I wouldn't be buying a new bike). Paying 6.5-8.5% in interest on a bike so you can keep your cash in the bank earning around 1-2% is not smart.

You didn't read the entire thread did you? :p

My rate is 4% for 3 years. It comes out to ~$12/month ($440 total) to finance the amount that I did. No pre-payment or early payment penalty.
 
Makes no sense unless it's the only money you have (in which case I wouldn't be buying a new bike). Paying 6.5-8.5% in interest on a bike so you can keep your cash in the bank earning around 1-2% is not smart.

That's not really true.

First, if you look around it's absolutely possible to find motorcycle loans at interest rates as low as 2% (My 09 K1300GT was offered at that rate when the 2010 models came out.)

Second, many people are carrying a balance on their credit cards, personal loans, or other forms of high interest debt. In those cases, it makes more sense to finance the bike (2-5% interest,) and use your available cash to pay off your credit cards (often 15-30% APR.)
 
Second, many people are carrying a balance on their credit cards, personal loans, or other forms of high interest debt. In those cases, it makes more sense to finance the bike (2-5% interest,) and use your available cash to pay off your credit cards (often 15-30% APR.)

Actually in that case it would just make more sense to pay off your existing debt before taking on more debt for a toy. :nerd
 
Actually in that case it would just make more sense to pay off your existing debt before taking on more debt for a toy. :nerd

My bike is my primary mode of transportation. :)

Also, it makes plenty of sense to pay for a bike out of your entertainment budget. You can have a lot of fun on a motorcycle for the same cost as the cable bill and a few rounds of drinks each month. :)
 
5.75 five-year at Pacific Service Credit Union, set up by Hattar and from new purchase. But I have already made big payments to principal only so it won't be the full term. I was finishing up car payments when I took it out. They have been very nice to deal with and have made no screw-ups. They only send quarterly statements, but you can go online. This was in Dec 09; it seemed okay at the time.
 
My bike is my primary mode of transportation. :)

Also, it makes plenty of sense to pay for a bike out of your entertainment budget. You can have a lot of fun on a motorcycle for the same cost as the cable bill and a few rounds of drinks each month. :)

My buddy did that.

Until he hit a truck while splitting, and suddenly had to buy a car right now so he could keep working.

Unlikely, but a consideration. Also nothing wrong with buying a much older/cheaper bike. Not like most of them see a ton of mileage.
 
Finance, hell no.

I like to be able to look at the whip and say that's MY BIKE...not the bank's.
 
That's not really true.

First, if you look around it's absolutely possible to find motorcycle loans at interest rates as low as 2% (My 09 K1300GT was offered at that rate when the 2010 models came out.)

Second, many people are carrying a balance on their credit cards, personal loans, or other forms of high interest debt. In those cases, it makes more sense to finance the bike (2-5% interest,) and use your available cash to pay off your credit cards (often 15-30% APR.)


Way to throw another fact into the equation (which actually makes my point exactly). You don't take out higher interest debt when you have cash earning lower interest. Once you have a safe amount of cash saved, you should never have cash sitting earning nothing while you're paying for higher yield financing. You pay down your credit cards and pay cash for things. Even 4 percent makes no sense if your money is sitting in a savings account or money market making 1 percent.

Again, if you don't have a safe amount of cash saved, thats a different situation entirely.
 
To be fair, even if you have some debt, I think it's good to keep a little cash handy. You never know when you're going to be in a situation where you need cash right now. :)

I think that was part of your point though. Sorry for repeating it.
 
To be fair, even if you have some debt, I think it's good to keep a little cash handy. You never know when you're going to be in a situation where you need cash right now. :)

I think that was part of your point though. Sorry for repeating it.

Well my underlying point is also, if the money you're gonna spend on a bike is all one has, maybe they shouldn't be buying a bike at all. But then again I was young once and I know what's it like to really want to ride but not have the finances. I never financed, but I did have my entire net worth tied up in cars and bikes as one point.
 
...but I did have my entire net worth tied up in cars and bikes as one point.

That's exactly what I didn't want, even though the amount I financed isn't my entire net worth. Available cash is important to me, and at $12 a month over 3 years, it makes sense for me to finance. I spend more than 12 bucks a month on beer :teeth
 
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